Apparatus for striping the inside of the side seam of a can body



3 Sheets-Sheet l -h pk INVENTOR P. E. PEARSON July 9, 1957 APPARATUS FOR STRIPING THE INSIDE OF THE SIDE SEAM OF A CAN BODY Filed May 14, 1953 Pau/ E Pearson ATTORNEYS P- E. PEARSON July 9, 1957 APPARATUS FOR STRIPING THE INSIDE OF THE SIDE SEAM OF A CAN BODY Filed May 14, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A \J, o Q m m? 5Q w x9 m I .J\\ oophooooocooooooo oo 0 QM QN v/ ATTORNEYS y 1957 P. E. PEARSON 2,798,455

APPARATUS FOR STRIPING THE INSIDE OF THE SIDE SEAM OF A CAN BODY Filed May 14, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Pau/ PGQTSOTL ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR STRIPING THE INSIDE OF THE'SIDESEAM OF A CAN BODY Paul E. Pearson, Chicago,: 11]., assignorto Continental Can. Company,.Inc;, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 14, 1953,-Serial No. 355,047

Claims. (Cl. 118-317) The invention relates to striping the inside of the side seam of a can body.

The usual method of striping the inside of the side seam of a can body'resides in mounting a spray head within the horn along which the can body is moved during the solder bonding of. the side seam. This arrangement has many objections, one of the most important of which is the inaccessibility of the spray head and the supply pipes leading thereto for adjustment or repair and for clearing the spray nozile in case of clogging.

\ An object of the presentinvention is to provide a novel apparatus for striping'the inside of aside seam wherein a spray head is mounted outside of the path of travel of the can bodies and is moved into the can bodies so as to enter the trailing end of a can'bodymove to a point adjacent the advance end thereof and then retract to a position outside of the path of travel of the can body and return to its initial position in its cycle of movement.

A still further object of theinvention is to provide an apparatus for spraying the inside of the side seam of a canbody wherein a spray head is rnounted outside of the path of travel'of the can bodies for bodily reciprocation ina path parallel with 'the pathof travel of the can bodies and is oscillated on its support so as to moveinto the trailing end of a can body to a point adjacent the advance end thereof and is then retracted 'from the can body. y

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more" fully described.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in "vertical section "through a horn for supporting can bodies; "and through which horn the can bodies are moved continuously in uniformly spaced relation. The view also shows in side elevation one form of sprayingapparatus;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, butshowing in full lines the spray heads as partly retracted from the can bodies and in broken lines the spray heads as fully retracted from the pathof travel of the can bodies and returned to the initial positionof the spray heads;

Figure 3 is a schematic view showing the two spray heads in 'three different positions:

(a) The position of the spray heads when moved into the can bodies;

(b) The positionof the spray heads as they are about to leave the canbody; and

(c) \The position of. the spray headsas they are re tracted-while outside of the path' of movement of the cantbody;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line l4 of Figure l and showing the sprayingrnechanism in plan view;

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 1 showing the horn in vertical section and the spray mech anism in end view.

In the drawings the can bodies are indicated at C and the sideseam which is tobe coated on the inside thereof is indicated at cm Figure 5. The'can bodies are sup- Patented July 9, 1957 ported by what is commonly referred to as an outside horn. The outside horn consists of two members 10, 10 which are slightly spaced from each other so that a feed chain 11 having feed dogs 12, 12 can engage can bodies and move them through the horn. These members 10, 10 are also spaced from each other at the lower side of the horn as indicatedat 13. This outside horn and feeding mechanism for moving the can bodies are well known and further description thereof is not thought necessary.

As shown in Figure 1 the feed dogs 12 are spaced from each other and the distance between the feed dogs-is greater than the length of the can body so that the can bodies are spaced from each other a uniform predetermined distance. The feed chain moves continuously and carries the can bodies through the horn with a continuous movement.

Disposed beneath the path of travel of the can bodies is the usual frame structure 14 of a body maker. Mounted on this frame structure are supporting pillars Hand 15. Supported on these pillars l5 and lfi is a guide bar 17. Mounted on the guide bar for reciprocation thereon is a supporting sleeve 18. At one end of this sleeve is a supporting bracket 19 and at the other end of the sleeve is a supporting bracket it Mounted in the bracket 19 is a shaft 21. Fixed to one end of the shaft is an arm 22.

Mounted in the bracket 25 is a shaft 23 and mounted on.

one endof this shaft istan arm 24-. A link 25 connects the armst22tand 24 so that any oscillations imparted to the shaft 21 will likewise, through the link 25, be transmittedto the shaft 23. Also mounted onthe shaft 21 is an L-shaped arm 26 carrying at its outer end a spray head 27 which1may beof any well known construction, Connectedto the side of the arm 26 is a flexible member 23 and extending through this member 23 and along the arm 26 to the spray head 27 are two pipes, one is for delivering lacquerto the spray head and the other is for-delivering air under pressure to assist in forming a spray of lacquer. lacquer and air under pressure is well known and has not been illustrated in detail.

. Mounted on the shaft 23 is an L-shaped arm 29 similar inshape to the arm 26. This arm 29 carries a spray head 301st the free end thereof. Lacquer and air under pressure is supplied to the spray head 3d throughtne flexible member 31.

Disposed beneath the horn and at one side of the guide bar 17 is a sprocket chain 32, said sprocket chain runs over a sprocket wheel 33 mounted on a shaft 34. It also runs over a sprocket wheel 35] mounted on a shaft 36. The shaft 36 is mounted for rotation in a standard 37 carried by the supporting frame 14. The shaft 34 is mounted for rotation in a standard 3%. Mounted on the end of the shaft 34 and on the opposite side of the standard 37 is a sprocket wheel 39 over which runs a driving sprocket chain tit. This sprocket chain ift is driven continuously. The can bodies pass through the horn from right to left as indicated by the arrow, on Figure l. The upper run of the sprocket chain 32 moves in the same direction and at the same speed as the can bodies. This sprocketchain has projecting from one of its links a pin 41. The pin 41 passes through the arm 26. There is a nut orhead 43 on the end of the pin. This pin as it moves with the chain along the upper straight length will move the sleeve 18 and consequently the supports 19 and 20 from right to left on the guide bar 17 and as said pin moves along the lower straight length of the chain, it moves the parts 18, 19 and 20 from left to right. When the pin reaches the end of either of theupper or lower straight length and passes around the sprocket wheel 33 or 35 it will oscillate the arm 26. Referring to Figure 2, the

This manner of supplying a spray head with 3 arm 26 is shown in the broken line position as having been oscillated so as to withdraw the spray head from the can body and to a position beneath the path of travel of the can bodies.

As above noted the support 20 moves bodily with the support 19 as they are rigidly mounted on the sleeve 18. Inasmuch as the arm 29 is rigidly attached to the shaft 23 and the arm 24 is also rigidly attached to the shaft 23 the link 25 will impart to the arm 29 carrying the spray head 30 the same oscillations as are imparted to the arm 26 by the travel of the pin 41. Starting with the broken line position of the arm 26 the pin 41 is on the lower line of travel of the chain 32. As this pin 41 passes around the sprocket wheel it will oscillate the arm 26 and quickly move it upward and into the can body at the trailing end thereof. This positions the spray head in the can body so that the lacquer spray from the head will reach the front end of the side seam. The pin 41 then moves with the sprocket chain and travels in a substan tially straight line at the same speed as the can body is moving and then as the pin 41 moves into the curved path' of travel around the sprocket wheel 35 it will retract the arm 26 as shown in Figure 2 at the left. The arm 26 will continue to retract until it passes the broken line position shown at the left in Figure 2. This positions the spray head well out of the path of travel of the can body and as the pin moves along with the chain on its lower straight line of travel it will return the spray head and the support therefor to the position shown in Figure 1.

The spacing of the can bodies may be sufiicient so as to permit this return of the supports for the spray arm to the position shown in Figure 1 so that the next succeeding can body will be positioned for receiving the spray head on its next cycle of movement. However, in the drawings the spray head carried by the arm 26 and the can bodies are timed relative to each other so that the spray head moves only into alternate can bodies passing through the horn. The inbetween can bodies are sprayed by the spray head 30 carried at the outer end of the arm 29. These arms carrying the spray heads are mounted on brackets 19 and 20, which in turn are mounted on the sleeve 18 and therefore the arms 26 and 29 will have imparted thereto the same bodily movement. Inasmuch as the arms 22 and 24 are connected by the link 25 the arms will have the same timing in their oscillation and therefore the spray head 30 will move into the can body which is in between the alternate can bodies on which the spray head 27 operates. This will coat the side seam of the inbetween can bodies as the can bodies move through the horn in a continuous line.

It will be noted that there has been provided an apparatus for spraying the inside of the side seam of a can body wherein the arms carrying the spray heads are mounted at one side of the path of travel of the can bodies. Only the spray heads and a portion of the arms carrying the same move into the can bodies for the spraying of the side seam. The movement of the arms carrying the spray heads is such that the spray heads for a portion of their cycle of movement are outside of the can bodies and at one side of the path of travel thereof. Therefore, the spraying mechanism can be stopped without interfering with the path of travel of the can bodies and, furthermore, the spray head when positioned outside of the can body and its path of travel is readily accessible for adjustment and cleaning in case of the clogging of the spray. It is also noted that the mechanism for supporting and operating the arms carrying the spray head is also located entirely out of the path of travel of the can bodies and is readily accessible for adjustment and repairs. Referring to the schematic view shown in Figure 3, the spray heads are indicated at a, a as having moved into the can body. Then they are moved with the can body to the position b, b. The spray heads are then retracted from the can bodies and moved to the position indicated at c, c which is a return bodily movement of the mountings for the spray arms to what might be called their initial position. In other words, the spray heads are moved from a position outside of the path of travel of the can bodies quickly by oscillation into the can bodies and then they move with the can bodies for a given distance, after which they are quickly retracted from the can bodies and then returned to their initial position.

The improved method of lacquer striping the inside of a can body side seam consists in supporting and continuously moving can bodies endwise in a line in uniform spaced relation to each other. The method also includes supporting spray heads at one. side of the path of travel of the can bodies and moving said spray head support in a path parallel with that of the can bodies and in timing with the can bodies for a given distance and then returning the same to its initial position outside of the path of travel of the can body. This movement of the spray head relative to the movement of the can bodies is so timed that the spray head enters the trailing end of a can body and moves to a point adjacent the advanced end thereof, after which the spray head is retracted from the can body and returned to its initial position. The spraying of the inside of the side seam is accomplished while the spray head is moving into and out of the can body. The improved method may be applied to the spraying of all of the can bodies in their single line of travel provided the spacing of the can bodies is such as to permit the bodily return of the spray head to its initial position before the next can body is brought into position for spraying. When two spray heads or more are used for simultaneously coating two or more can bodies the spacing of the can bodies from each other may be very much less and this, of course, will increase the speed of the production of the machine.

It is obvious that many changes may be made in the apparatus but it is essential that the spray head or heads shall be mounted and operated from outside of the path of travel of the can bodies.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for striping the inside of can body seams comprising a horn for supporting the can bodies end to end in a line uniformly spaced from each other, means for moving said can bodies in a continuous procession through said horn, a support mounted for reoiprocation back and forth in a line outside of and beneath the path of travel of the can bodies, an L-shaped arm mounted on said support for bodily travel therewith and for oscillation thereon, a spray head carried at the outer end of said arm and means for moving said support and arm for causing said head to move into the trailing end of the can body and to a point adjacent the advance endof said can body and then retract the spray head from the can :body and from out of the path of travel of the can body, said spray head as it moves into and out of said can body operating to direct a spray of lacquer on the'inside of the side seam.

2. An apparatus for striping the inside of can body seams comprising a horn for supporting the can bodies end to end in a line uniformly spaced from each other, means for moving said can bodies in a continuous procession through said horn, a spray head movable into and of the the trailing end of a can body traveling through said horn, an arm carrying said spray head mounted outside of said horn, and means for moving said arm'both in substantial parallelism with the path of movement of the can bodies and oscillatably through the space between said trailing end and the adjacent end of the succeeding can body in timed relation to the travelling can bodies to effect the aforesaid movement of the spray head.

3. An apparatus for striping can body seams on the interior of the can body comprising means for supporting and moving in a continuous procession uniformly spaced apart can bodies end to end in a line, spray head mechanism normally located out of the path of movement of the can bodies operable to stripe the interior of said seams ofthe can bodies, and means to move the spray head longitudinally within the can bodies and into and withdraw same from the can bodies through the trailing end of a can body and through the space between said trailing end and the end of the adjacent can body in timed relation during the movement of the can bodies.

4. An apparatus for striping can body seams on the interior of the can body according to claim 3, wherein an arm carries said spray head and travels in an orbit to move the spray head longitudinally in can bodies as aforesaid and also has oscillatory movement to enable entry into and withdrawal from can bodies.

5. An apparatus for striping can seams on the interior of the can according to claim 3, wherein the last-mentioned means has an endless drive element, an arm carrying said spray head, and a connection from said arm to said drive element whereby said spray head may be moved longitudinally within the can bodies and may be oscillated to enter them into and withdraw them from 5 the can bodies.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 2,129,220 K-ronquest Sept. 6, 1938 2,220,107 Holloway Nov. 5, 1940 2,348,495 Peterson May 9, 1944 2,509,448 Ransburg May 30, 1950 

